Vienna, 16 August 2021 – For quite some time, Lebanon has been experiencing a severe social and economic crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated this situation, and there are shortages particularly in the area of healthcare. With vaccination coverage remaining low, COVID-19 infections are once again rising sharply. Austria is expressing its solidarity by donating 100,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
We will not abandon the Lebanese population in this difficult situation. Especially in the pandemic, we all need to pull together – because no one is safe until we are all safe. Therefore, I am pleased that Austria can be the first EU Member State to offer a donation of vaccines for Lebanon,
says Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.
According to estimates by the World Bank, the crisis in Lebanon is one of the three most severe crises to occur worldwide in the past 150 years.
Lebanon is caught in a dramatic downward spiral: a political, economic, and financial crisis; the arrival of 1.5 million refugees; and the devastating explosion at the Port of Beirut last year have all placed a heavy burden on the Lebanese population. This vaccine delivery represents our continued humanitarian commitment to Lebanon,
says Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg.
To make matters worse, Lebanon is one of the countries hit hardest by the flow of refugees from neighbouring Syria.
We live in a globalised world, and I strongly believe we can only fight this pandemic together. The people of Lebanon are currently in a difficult situation, so the order of the day is to act in solidarity, providing them with urgently needed vaccines,
says Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein.
A supply flight from the Austrian Armed Forces, part of the UNIFIL mission in Lebanon, will handle the transport of the vaccine to Beirut.
For years, our armed forces have been working in Lebanon to help ensure solidarity and security. The COVID pandemic has hit Lebanon very hard, so it is only natural for us to help in this situation as well. We are using our Hercules to transport these vital vaccines; in Lebanon, too, vaccines are the only way out of the crisis,
says Defence Minister Klaudia Tanner.
President of the Upper Austrian Landtag, Wolfgang Stanek, gave the vaccines a ceremonial send-off at Linz-Hörsching Airport.
For me, this vaccine delivery to Lebanon is about the principle of solidarity and the conviction that, in a closely interconnected world, the COVID-19 pandemic can only be controlled if everyone receives adequate protection, worldwide,
says State Parliament President Wolfgang Stanek.
